Man dies after taser arrest near Bolton

A man who stabbed himself in the abdomen has died after being Tasered by police officers.

Philip Hulmes, 53, was hit with electric probes from the stun gun after barricading himself in his home in Over Hulton, near Bolton, on Tuesday night. It is thought a concerned relative called police to the house at 8.30pm.

Police were told that Hulmes, who was armed with a knife, had locked himself in, was making threats and had begun to stab himself.

Officers arrived and smashed a hole in the door. When they spotted his injuries they called for Taser-trained back up.

After further failed attempts to talk him out of the building they broke in and used the stun gun. He was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital but he died about half an hour later.

Investigations by the Professional Standards Branch and the Independent Police Complaints Commission are due to begin. Greater Manchester police said the officers had been threatened. They entered the house and deployed a Taser.

“After it was deployed, it became apparent he had a serious self-inflicted stab wound to his abdomen,” police said in a statement.

“A Home Office postmortem examination is due to be carried out later today.”

The GMP’s Professional Standards Branch will oversee the investigation and will be making a mandatory referral to the IPCC.